BCS championship: Florida State’s Telvin Smith ready for anything

Florida State linebacker Telvin Smith will be ready for anything when the Seminoles play Auburn on Monday in the Bowl Championship Series title game at the Rose Bowl. It’s a lesson he learned while watching Auburn play during the season.

First, Smith watched Auburn defeat Georgia with a last-minute pass that Georgia safety Josh Harvey-Clemons tipped into the hands of Auburn receiver Ricardo Louis for a 73-yard game-winning touchdown on Nov. 16.

Smith said Thursday he felt bad for Harvey-Clemons, a sophomore who also attended Lowndes High in Valdosta, Ga.

“We grew up together, we played on Boys Club teams together, so that’s like my little cousin,” Smith said. “I felt bad that he had to be the one that kind of caused that, but I did give him a little hard time for it.

“I was like, ‘What were you thinking?’ You knock that ball down, you win the game and get out of here and go home. Don’t try to be a hero…. He’s just a young player and he’s definitely going to grow in that situation…. It’s football. You’ve got to play the whole 60 minutes or you see what can happen.”

Two weeks later, Auburn defeated two-time defending national champion Auburn on a 109-yard touchdown return of a field-goal attempt.

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